New Biggest Loser Competition

So as you call know, I did a Biggest Loser Competition. I'm thinking of doing another one with Friends. Would any of you want to join? I think we would start on January 2nd, go for 12 weeks and the entry fee would be $15. The jackpot would go to the one who lost the most body percentage which I hope will be a good amount of money depending on who goes in with me on it! What do you think? Any questions or thoughts?

The Biggest Loser

Oh my gosh, I WON! I can't believe it. I'm so excited. It has been a long hard 12 weeks but I am so excited I pushed myself so hard. I still have a long ways to go to get down to my goal weight, but the gift certificate to Anniversary Inn (which was the prize) is going to be so worth it. I'm so excited to have a night or two out with my husband without my kids. I obviously have not done that since Brooklyn was born since I am still nursing. She is finally starting to sleep through the night though so I am stoked! Here are the stats:

Weight lost:
Sharene: 37.8 lbs
Ryan (BIL) 32.8 lbs
Randy (uncle) 40 lbs
Saundra (mom) 21.6 lbs
Shelleen (sister) 20.7 lbs
Meri (aunt) 20.0 lbs
John (dad) 24.5 lbs
Susie (cousin) 11.8 lbs
Mike (husband) 18.6 lbs
Randall (BIL) 5 lbs
Shimayne (sister) 1.5 lbs

Congratulations to all who participated in losing weight! It was so fun to be together and working together towards losing weight. My sister, Shelleen, headed this up with many motivational thoughts and quotes and I appreciate her so much. We are planning to start another one at the beginning of the year. Anyone want to join? We think it will be between $10 and $15 to join! Let me know. Thanks to everyone who has given me encouragement and compliments. I appreciate you all so much. I need it, especially since I am no where close to where I need to be. Here's to keeping the weight off during the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!

My cute little ones

I love this picture of Brooklyn falling asleep sitting up. Some days I think I could do that too with how little she sleeps at night.
Brooklyn - about 6 months old.

Brielle and her dad love to sail in their pirate ship (our car) to far off places (like the store) and like to talk like pirates...."ARRR We be pirates." She loves it and this is a do-rag that Mike has which Brielle likes to wear.

We went up to Idaho to visit Mike's grandparents and had a great time. Brooklyn absolutely loved Grandpa Glen! I am so mad I did not get pictures of Grandma and Grandpa with our kids...DUH!

This was at the Boise zoo. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great weekend!

Weight loss

Some of my family members are doing a biggest loser competition and I LOVE competition. Something about it really motivates me. I have wanted to lose weight, like most women, but have found it hard with nursing, being a mom to two little kids and working both for a company and inside the home. There have been some women in my ward and family who have lost A LOT of weight lately and I know I can, it just seemed overwhelming. Well when my sister suggested doing this little fun competition I knew that now was a good time to try to get back down to my goal weight. I have put on the right my X factor (like some of my friends have done, thanks for the idea!) and I am excited I am actually losing. I have lost my first 10 lbs and can't wait to be looking and feeling much better in the next few months. Wish me luck!!

Laughing

My brother and his family came out for a couple of weeks last month and it was so fun to see them. Luckily they had their video camera to capture these cute babies laughing.

Lake Powell

My mom, kids and I had the opportunity to go to Lake Powell with my Uncle's family and some other extended family. We went for three days and it was sooooooo fun! I was so thankful to go at all even though Mike couldn't go with us. My mom was great and so helpful with my kids. We had a wonderful beach spot that we would go to each day and Brielle was in heaven. Brooklyn did pretty well as well. You can see her sleeping in the last picture. I loved this first one with the moon over the rocks.

She loved the beach and took a 2-3 hour nap each day.

There were rocks all around for the boys to climb. It was so fun.

Brooklyn took a good 2 hour nap that day on the beach. It was such a fun time. It was hard to come home. I thought about quitting my job so I could stay the whole week. Glad I didn't.

My sleeping angels

Cake

I made this cake for my cousin's baby's blessing. I thought it turned out cute. Obviously it was on the 4th of July.

4th of July

So since the 4th of July was on the Sunday, the Stadium of Fire, which we went to courtesy of Mike's work, was on the 3rd and the Provo parade was on the 5th. Here are Brielle, Shimayne (my sister) and Randall (brother-in-law) at the parade route. Brielle loved the parade. It got pretty hot but we made it through most of it.

Here is Brooklyn when she was not screaming :)
Here it the view we had from the Stadium of Fire of the Provo Temple.

We hiked Stewart Falls the morning of the 3rd. Brielle did not take a nap and I was so worried about taking her to Stadium of Fire that night. Luckily she was so good. She did sleep for about 15 minutes during the first part of it and was absolutely thrilled when the fireworks started. My friend Kasha watched Brooklyn. There was no way she would have been happy during it. Thanks Kasha!

Mike's sister Racheal came with us. We had a good time. Carrie Underwood was amazing. She is so talented!

I love the 4th of July. It is probably my 3rd favorite holiday. My Grandma Weight used to pay for all of us to go to the Stadium of Fire. It has been fun going with Mike's work. I love it. It makes me remember my Grandma Weight and the many memories I have with my dad's side of the family on the 4th of July.

Waterfalls

We have been to three different waterfalls this summer and Brielle has absolutely loved each of them. She talks about waterfalls constantly. Look at how adorable she is! She is getting so big I can't believe it. This was obviously in May/June after she had surgery on her finger. It is still wrapped up in the splint.

I think this is such a cute picture by the Provo River.
Mike and Brielle at the base of Bridal Veil Falls.

Brielle and I in the same spot.

Beautiful Bridal Veil Falls.

I love this waterfall and every time we go past it to go to my parents, Brielle looks for it and it is so excited when she sees it!

This is Stewart Falls. It is quite a hike with a toddler and a baby but so fun and so beautiful.

It is so much bigger than I thought it was going to be.

We first went with one of Mike's coworkers and then took my sister and her family. We had an interesting trip up and back including a couple of people falling and Ariah falling into the river and a kid crying most of the way up and back, but it was still fun.

This is a waterfall that Mike hiked with Brielle and his uncle's family up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It is pretty steep at first and I didn't dare try to hike it with Brooklyn. Below is Bryce (Mike's cousin) and Brielle.

Here is the pretty waterfall. I love waterfalls.

Here are Brielle, Racheal (Mike's sister) and Sarah (Mike's cousin). See how happy Brielle is? Obviously she was carried most of the way up. When they got back down, Brielle said that was fun going to the waterfall. Let's do it again!

Mason (Mike's cousin) and Brielle. I love her pose in this one.

Uncle Paul with Brielle. He carried her most of the way. He is awesome.

We have thoroughly enjoyed this summer. I am sad it is coming to an end. We had a lot of fun going to see many different waterfalls.

Lindon Pool

My cousin Susie introduced me to this pool and I am in love with it. It is the Lindon Pool and it is perfect for kids. It is $5 for adults and free for my kids. Brielle loves it. It has this pirate part with ships and water slides perfect for kids, then a bigger waterslide, a little pool (1 foot deep), a normal pool, hot tub, a lazy river and a surfing pool. I love it all.

Rachael (Mike's sister) and Brielle. She was so good with Brielle and Brielle didn't wan tto leave her sight.
Brooklyn tried the pool for a while and then got cold, so she sat and warmed up and slept in her car seat.

Jaron's baby blessing - Catch up

As many of you know, my sister Shell, has kids just after me. I get pregnant and then they decide it is time to come down to Earth. I love it! So her son Jaron was born 5 weeks after Brooklyn. He was blessed in June and we got some great pictures. I sure love him already. He is such a chill baby and just good. He harldy cries and it is so easy to get him to laugh. What a joy! I hope that he and Brooklyn are good friends just like me and my cousins! I love them.

Look at him! I love this picture. Bad angle but I love his smile. What a hunky chunk of a boy!
I love Brooklyn's smile. It makes me melt. It is much easier to get Brooklyn to smile than it was to get Brielle to smile, but Brooklyn does cry more than Brielle did, so we win some and lose some. What cute cousins!

Jump On It - May 2010

I LOVE THIS PLACE. It is free for anyone 3 and under and Brielle loves it. There are trampolines and blow up things and since I don't participate in the jumping, we go for free. It is so fun and we have done it so many times in the last few months. Here are Brielle and Ariah going down the blow up slide.

My camera does not work so well with jumping so the pictures are blurry but I kind of caught her in the air. The best part is to jump with the balls of course!
I love Brielle's hair in this one.

This is what Brooklyn was doing while the girls were jumping. Look at those beautiful eyes!

I love the tongue sticking out in the pictures. Brielle used to do the same thing.

Prayer of a 2-year old

Brielle: “Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this day and for the food. Help it to nourish our bodies. Thank Thee for the drinks, mama’s drink, and daddy’s drink. Please help me to watch Little Einstein’s before I go to bed. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.” - I was laughing so hard I had to hide behind Brooklyn to say Amen.

We are starting the potty training process...AAHHH!!

Any suggestions or things that worked well with your children?

New recipe

I found this recipe on KSL Studio 5. I have made it a few times and loved it every time. I just made it for Shell's baby's blessing and many asked for the recipe so I thought I would post it on here. It is easy and very very yummy!

Root Beer Float Cake

Ingredients for cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
2 cups root beer
1 3 oz box instant vanilla pudding
1 tsp root beer extract

Mix above ingredients together in bowl. Pour into two rounded greased cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 10 minutes and then remove onto wire rack to cool for an additional 30 minutes.

Frosting:
1 8 oz whipped topping, thawed
1 cube melted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp root beer extract

Topping:
5 crushed root beer flavored candies (this is not necessary but makes the cake look good).

Mix frosting together and frost cake by spreading frosting onto bottom layer of cake. Add top of cake. Top with remaining frosting. Sprinkle crushed root beer candy on top for decoration. Store covered in refrigerator if not eating right away. Enjoy!

Simliarities?

Can you tell which one is which?

Well this one gives it away since you can see Brielle on the right. I think you can tell they are sisters but do not look to much alike, to me anyway. The biggest difference is that Brielle was 5.5 months and Brooklyn is 2.5 months. I love these girls.

Brielle's surgery

So after she had her fingers shut in the door the night of Brooklyn's blessing, I knew that something was still wrong with them. They didn't look right. The doctor just told me to leave the splint on for a few days and use antibiotics and she should be fine. Well my pediatrician told me that it didn't look quite right and looked at the x-ray report and said she did break her growth plate. I went and saw a hand specialist and he got more x-rays. He said that the nail bed looked out of place and possible the tendon was torn. He said the best thing was to do surgery so he could get in there and look at it, so she had surgery today. I couldn't let her eat or drink anything before the surgery. Of course they could not get her in first thing and ended up being late, so we didn't get into surgery until 1:30. She was starving and so thirsty. I felt so bad for her. The surgery ended up being pretty extensive, took 1 1/2 hours and her nail bed might be damaged for life. It has been really hard the last couple of days. I have cried a lot. Brielle only cried coming out of the anaesthesia. She is handling this much better than I am. She is such a sweet girl and automatically just switches to using her left hand. What an angel daughter I have. She will have to have this splint on for four weeks and then the doctor will remove the pin that he put in. Hopefully the tendon will reattach and the growth plate for both the nail and the bone are not too damaged permanently. I think this is definitely harder on me than Brielle. She is doing really well. Thank you for your prayers. We really appreciate them.

All about me.

Red= I've done it. Green=I haven't done it yet, but hopefully will. Black= It will never happen or I hope it will never happen
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (at Lake Powell, does that count?)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (oh how I wish!)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (knock on wood...)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (eww I hate the mud)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (I would love to)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (that makes me so sad, I don’t think I could handle it).
67. Bounced a check, Yes, unfortunately. How embarrassing.
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood stuff animal.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (I HATE FISH with a passion. I have tried almost all kinds of fish and cannot handle the aftertaste of fish).
72. Pieced a quilt (I have helped my grandma tie quilts. I’m not sure what it means to piece a quilt).
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (never…hopefully never will happen)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (again, knock on wood, but I did tear my ACL, lateral and medial meniscus playing volleyball. It was the first home game of my senior season. Unfortunately the ACL heals a lot slower than a broken bone and so I was out for the rest of the season!)
78. Been on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (we leased one)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (by myself or with my family? I know we did as a family, but personally I have never gotten all the way through the old testament)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (I think I would become a vegetarian).
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Own a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100.Visited India

Here are a couple of extra things, confessions.

- I feel extremely guilty every time I let Brielle watch TV, every time.
- I think I watch more sports than some guys (I watch every Jazz and BYU football game), and sometimes even more than that.
- I LOVE CHOCOLATE. I cannot have it while nursing again and so I eat every other sweet I can get my hands on just to make up for not being able to eat chocolate. It is awful.
- I leave my daughters (when really young) in their clothes/pajamas until they blow out or smell so bad from spit up that I need to change them. Sometimes it is just a few minutes after I change them and sometimes it is more than a day.
- I have never sworn, not once, in my entire life.
- I use to have a fairly decent voice (Mike and I would sing duets together) but when I was pregnant with my twin girls my voice lowered a lot. It has not come back all the way and it has been one of the hardest things I have had to deal with, not being able to sing the way I use to. I used to cry every Sunday singing the hymns because I couldn’t stand the way I sounded anymore.
- Since entering Relief Society almost 10 years ago (excluding my singles ward), I have probably attended Relief Society less than 6 months of Sundays combined. I have always been in Primary or Young Women’s.
- I have to do IVF to get pregnant.
- I thought I would never yell at my kids because I never remember my mom yelling at me, but find I raise my voice more than I would like.
- I sing and read to my daughters every day and usually a couple of times a day.
- We want to move up to the Salt Lake Valley again so Mike does not have such a long commute, especially with the road construction going on now.
- I don’t like the smell of rain (I know, I know. I just lost a lot of your respect on this one).
- I was married at age 19 and knew for years that I would be getting married at a young age.
- I love my daughters more than anything and I TRY never to take a single day for granted because I know they will be gone faster than I would like.

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish a happy mother's day to you beautiful, smart, talented, spiritual and amazing women out there. Yes you (if you are a woman), each of you are so wonderful and I am so lucky to be surrounded by such incredible mothers. I especially am so grateful for my mother. She is one of the most incredible women in this world. She taught me so much about love and the gospel and being a mother. I am so thankful for my beautiful daughters who I love more than anything. I feel so blessed to be a mother. When I was little, all I wanted to be was a mother. I am grateful, so grateful, that the Lord has seen fit to bless me with these incredible girls to be an early mother to. Thanks to Bob and Shari for these adorable matching dresses. They fit perfectly and it made me so happy to put them in them for mother's day! Happy Mother's day!